Fallout’s Jonathan Nolan Reveals What He Learned From His Brother

During a recent event to help drum up excitement for Fallout at the Emmys, producer and director Jonathan Nolan appeared on stage with his brother, Oscar-winner Christopher Nolan. The Nolan brother shared stories, including what Jonathan learned from Christopher, and Jonathan even offered up a tease for what to expect from the upcoming Fallout Season 2.

As reported by Deadline, Jonathan Nolan said he credits his brother with a lot, including how to create a “very safe” set when filming sensitive scenes. This post contains spoilers about Fallout Season 1, so only read on if you’ve seen the series or don’t care.

In the first episode of Fallout, Ella Purnell’s Lucy marries Monty (Cameron Cowperthwaite) and the pair get intimate in their new home. However, it’s not long until Monty is revealed to be a Raider from the surface. The two tussle, and Lucy fights him off and kills him.

Jonathan Nolan said one of the things he learned from his brother was how to build a “completely closed yet.”

“It was very intimate. Very safe. No phones, no nonsense. Just a very limited group of people who are actually in that kind of inner sanctum. I think Ella realized very quickly that we were creating respect and safety in this environment. She was able to kind of go for it,” he said.

Jonathan Nolan also noted that, had he not worked with Christopher on The Dark Knight, he might not have had the guts to make Fallout. Jonathan said the fact that Christopher wasn’t swayed by the initial negative reaction to casting Heath Ledger as Joker helped him believe in himself and stay true to his vision, even if a decision isn’t adored completely by fans of the source material.

“Your casting Heath Ledger,” Jonathan said to his brother at the event. “I’m not even sure you were aware of it. You weren’t online at the time when it was very online–the fact that people thought, ‘Oh, they’ve blown it.’ I remember watching that and being terrified. You sort of think, ‘How’s it gonna work out?’ The answer was it worked out very, very well. And that gave me the courage to sort of go okay, if you approach these things, not for the fans, but as a fan, find something that you love, and try to treat it with as much respect as you can. And trust that respect and love will show through even if you have to make choices.”

Jonathan Nolan has spoken extensively about his love of the Fallout games. He also said wasn’t trying only to please gamers or fans of the Fallout games with the TV show.

“I don’t think you really can set out to please the fans of anything,” he said. “Or please anyone other than yourself. I think you have to come into this trying to make the show that you want to make and trusting that, as fans of the game [ourselves], we would find the pieces that were essential to us… and try to do the best version.”

Also in the interview, Christopher Nolan asked his brother to reveal secrets about Fallout Season 2. Jonathan would not budge, but he did tease that Season 2 will have new “creatures,” which may be a reference to Deathclaws and how the show could move to New Vegas.

“I think fans will be very, very excited. That’s all I got,” he said.